E-Book, 545 Pages
Adult/ fantasy
By: Brian McClellan
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 3/4
“The world is changing. People do not exist to serve their governments or their kings. Governments exist to serve the people, so the people should have a say in those governments.”
There are a bunch of authors that I wanted to read for a long time and hesitated to start their series. Some of these authors are Jen Williams, Brent Weeks, Michael Sullivan and finally Brian McClellan. I actually read the author’s Valkyrie novellas and enjoyed them. I thought their writing was simple and enjoyable so I was pretty sure the writing in the Powder Mage trilogy won’t be a problem for me.
There are two main reasons I kept procrastinating this series. The first one is that there are many books and they are thick ones. The second and more important cause is that it is flintlock fantasy and I am not the biggest fan of this genre. To put it simply, I was wrong, the magic system was quite different from what I expected and I loved it!
The story is told through three main POVs as we follow Marshal Tamas, his son Taniel and the private investigator he hires Adamat. The story begins with a coup against the king which many fantasy novels do but I loved that McClellan does his own take on this trope and give it a refreshing touch. There isn’t the usual mystery vibes of who did it because we know it from the start but rather we see the consequences of it.
I enjoyed all three POVs and it is hard to pick a favorite. The pacing and transitions were a bit clumsy but I would understand it given it’s his debut. The story definitely had very great and gripping moments interspersed with less exciting moments which makes me think the story could have been shorter.
The magic system does not focus solely on guns. In fact, it had less powder magic than I expected in addition to elemental magic and weird talents (knacks) which was kind of cool.
“Books are important. They link us to the past, to the future. Every written word gives us another hint about how to control the Else.”
Summary: I had some expectations for this novel that this entry exceeded. I like the writing, the magic system and the characters for the most part. I think the pacing, length and transitions could have been better. I still believe the author did a good job for a debut and I just know the second and third books will be better and I will be finding that out soon.
The book prescription 